Dawson sewage system in critical condition

The Yukon town of Dawson City is being warned to replace badly corroded pipes immediately or sewage service could be disrupted in the entire town — and raw, unscreened waste may end up in the Yukon River.

Public works officials in the town of 1,300 have told council that some pipes in the existing sewage infrastructure need to be fixed by this fall. They have become so severely corroded that their failure is being described as imminent, with "catastrophic" consequences to come if no action is taken.

"So we know now that we have to get this done, if at all possible," Paul Moore, Dawson's chief administrative officer, told CBC News on Wednesday. "There's no possible leave for delay. It's ourNo. 1priority, for sure."

The first priority, according to the public works department, is replacing the pipes at the York Street lift station and the sewage screening plant.

Moore said the town cannot get to work right away on replacing the pipes, partly because of a shortage of necessary supplies and partly because of high water levels in the area's waterways.

"The work has to be done during the lowest water levels," he said. "Some of the work is below the actual water table. So we need to get in there as late in the year as possible, while we can. So that would mean October for a lot of the groundwork."

Sewage issues are not new in Dawson, which has long needed a new sewage treatment facility. The territorial court fined the town $5,000 in 2003 for dumping raw sewage into the Yukon River, then ordered it to build a new treatment facility.

Construction has yet to begin onthe $14-million sewage lagoon, which has also sparked controversy among residents over its proposed location. Some have complained that the lagoon, to be built at the entrance to town by the local ball diamonds, is too close to the underground wells where the town gets its water.

With a more imminent sewage system problem on the horizon, the town is hoping the corroded pipes will hold out for the meantime.